Aida, My "Little" Slave Girl

The new Opera House, actually named The Ziff Ballet Opera House after Sanford Ziff, was a nice surprise. It wasn't an earth-shattering experience and was typical of modern architecture, but it was grand. The interior of the auditorium disappointed me, but I can easily dismiss that to a jaded past; the great hall is reputed to have one of the best acoustics in modern times, so if it was a little bland for my taste so be it. The sound was great; perhaps gold leaf and gargoyles don't help all that much in that area.

The show was stolen by Angela Brown as the princess-in-captivity/slave girl. She wasn't the most fragile of slave lovers, but her vocal abilities precluded all else. We were lucky to run into a employee of the Florida Grand Opera before hand who told us that the grand, Victory March of 140 performers did NOT have live elephants but (gorgeous) slave boys carrying huge tusks. I complimented her for not contributing to animal abuse and silently thanked her for giving me a new idea for slave boys.

We all agreed that is was refreshing to see Miami come out in all it's glory. Although the men were as boring as London on a Sunday, Miami's woman were in full regalia of jewels, gowns, and furs. And, there were plenty of what I called, in New York, Opera Queens.

So, I did what any Opera Queen WOULD do today: I bought tickets to the whole season including the world premier next March of "Anna Karenina". (And, I knew her back in the good, old days in St. Petersburg, so they better do her right!)